Flags at Half-Staff

On Monday April 2, I took T2 to school and as I drove into the parking lot, I immediately noticed that the American flag was flying at half-staff. 

I first wondered if I had missed anything on the news and realized that I actually hadn't watched the news in quite a while so there wasn't much chance I knew what was going on in the world.

When I walked T2 into the hallway I asked the hall monitor if she knew why the flag had been lowered.  Nope. Not a clue.  I asked a parent if they knew what it was about and again the answer was no.

I left school and headed to the Post Office for a book of stamps.  As soon as I drove into the parking lot, I saw the flag at half-staff again.  So now I'm thinking that some high ranking guy in our lousy government had maybe died and I knew nothing about it. Obama? Cheney (finally)? 


I asked the Postal clerks what the flag at half-staff was about and neither one of them knew.  What the heck?


Just then one of the managers came up front and I asked him what was going on.  He said he had a memo about it and he would bring it to me.  Ok, a memo is good.  I needed to know at this point.  


This is what I read:

April 2, 2012 - New York Governor Cuomo has directed that flags on state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, April 2, 2012 in honor of Staff Sergeant William R. Wilson III of Getzville, NY who died in Paktika province, Afghanistan on March 26, 2012.


Sigh.  Another American soldier lost. Nobody more deserving of a flag at half-staff.